(Updated Daily)

[363 days in a row]

BadtotheboneBob

The (Occasional) Veterans Report

The Department of Veterans Affairs has committed to ending veteran homelessness by 2015. If you are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless, there are resources to help. For more information, visit VA's Homeless Veterans website at www.va.gov/homeless/ or contact 1-877-4AID-VET.

(A very admirable goal, of course... However, veterans seeking assistance with that issue must also be willing to address any other issues they have that could possibly contribute to the subject homelessness issue. You vets know what I'm talking about. So, deal with them. I did and it's not that hard if you get honest with yourself and listen to the suggestions from the 'Pros from Dover'. Frankly, The VA will help you but they don't play games and won't let itself get jerked around very much. There's too many vets out there that need help to do otherwise. That's how it is...)

The Military Advantage blog recently featured a live Q&A blog session with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller. Check out the replay to see how our guests answered our readers questions about the impact sequestration may have on... VA benefits...

(The word that I've heard and seen in print is that 'Sequestration' will not affect the Department of Veteran's Affairs as the upcoming funding for it has already been allocated and deposited in the appropriate bureaucratic 'in-box'... Kudos to the politicians and bureaucrats involved... The DoD is another matter. Stand by for potential heavy rolls, if you are enrolled in TRICARE... )

What is next after the Military? Explore your options. Start early and get ahead with the Transition Center. Military.com has launched the new Military Transition Center, which features revolutionary personalized checklists to guide servicemembers and retirees through transition even before you begin the separation process... Visit the Military Transition Center Now.

(Hi, new Vets... Yeah, been there... done that. ETS. Twice, actually... So, a bit of advice from one who has preceded you. I recommend that #1 on your list should be to immediately address and seek vigorous treatment for any medical issues you may have acquired while wearing your uniform. The operative words there are "any", "immediately" and "address". Seriously. It just might save you down the road the grief and hassles that many, many veterans have experienced. I see and talk to them frequently. Oh! If you have separated already and don't have a copy of your medical records, get them! Those of you whom are almost ready to walk out the gate, make sure you have those records with you when you do. Again... Seriously...)

Stars and Stripes has reported that some caregivers of wounded veterans mistakenly received letters recently warning that automatic spending cuts set for January could stop their monthly stipends, creating more concern about the problems that sequestration might bring. According VA spokesman Josh Taylor, officials have contacted all of the caregivers who received the notifications, clarifying that their stipends are not in danger and apologizing for the confusion.

(See? The funds are there thanks to President Obama. Some VA 'acting bean counter' bureaucrat evidently didn't get the word and sent out the letters. Won't look good on his next evaluation, I'm thinkin'...)

Paul Constant: A Guide to the 2012 Election (The Stranger; Scroll Down)
…there are way more reasons to vote for Barack Obama, especially if you're not a white guy with a lot of money. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan both want to defund Planned Parenthood, which would bar millions of women around the country from access to affordable family planning methods, cancer screenings, and other important medical care. Ryan believes in banning abortion even in the case of rape or if it's the only way to save the mother's life.

Marc Dion: Romney the Boss Comes out of the Closet (Creators Syndicate)
If your daughter is serving in Afghanistan and you're on welfare, if she needs food stamps when she gets back because there are no jobs where you live, do us all a favor and die. You're an embarrassment to this country. Your daughter should stay alive, however. She'll be needed in Iran soon.

Terry Savage: Who Are the Workers Dropping out of the Job Search? (Creators Syndicate)
The jobs story will be the crux of the political debates for the next 60 days. But for just a moment, aside from politics, let's put the facts of this unemployment issue in perspective. Exactly who is bearing the brunt of this crisis? And if you are either unemployed, or underemployed, how should you be facing the future? And is there any hope for the future?

Assassin Princess Skin Care
A satin pillowcase is essential because, though a cotton one feels smooth to your hand, microscopically it's a mess of tearing, jagged fibers that damage your skin, especially the sensitive skin around your eyes. Second point: a cotton fiber pillowcase sucks the moisture and essential oils of your skin RIGHT out, leaving your skin drier, which in turn causes some people's skin to overproduce more oil to compensate, which leads to an oily complexion. For people with naturally dry skin, cotton cases just make it worse. Satin doesn't absorb oils or moisture nearly as well.

David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."

Trivia Question from Yesterday

Mr. Clean is a brand name and mascot fully owned by Procter & Gamble used for a cleaning solution and related products, and as "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser", for a melamine foam cleaner.

Mr. Clean was created by Linwood Burton, a marine ship cleaning businessman with accounts throughout the east coast of the United States. In the past, ships had to be cleaned using abrasives or solvents that were able to cut successfully through embedded grease and grime; however, past solvents were so dangerous to workers that Burton was motivated to finding a solution that was effective and less caustic. Burton, with fundamental knowledge in chemistry, developed Mr. Clean in an effort to clean ships without having to pay significant premiums in disability claims for his workers. He later sold the product to Procter & Gamble in 1958.

Mr. Clean made his television commercial debut in 1958. Within the first six months of the introduction, Mr. Clean became the best-selling household cleaner on the market.

Mr. Clean's theme song, or jingle, has been around since the product's introduction, initially sung as a popular-music style duet between a man (Don Cherry) and a woman (Betty Bryan). Thomas Scott Cadden wrote the jingle at his home in Skokie, Illinois in the spring of 1957 while working for Tatham-Laird & Kudner Advertising Agency.

It is the longest running advertising jingle used in television history.
Source

Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Mr. Clean

BttbBob wrote:
Alas, my agent vigorously implored me not to answer the question as it might aggravate his severe case of Peladophobia. Horrors! (he exclaimed)... I acceded, however I did insist that he return to therapy soonest...
Memo to JoeS: I have nothing against Chimps. Indeed, my agent looks and acts just like one and despite some odd quirks (see above), he's really a rather fine fellow. Hence, the refusal to endorse blatant Chimp exploitation by humans. Principles, dontcha know...
P.S. My agent, for the record, was severely impacted by the Dubya/Chimpster connection for those eight lo-o-ong years. Everywhere he went it was, "Look! It's...!" (well, you know)...
Imagine living with THAT!

Adam answered:
Wheaties? Mr. Clean?

Sally said:
BC Clark Jeweler's "Anniversary Sale" jingle was originally aired in 1956 and every year since.
May be wrong answer, but it is unique!
PS: My morning care kids were here at 5:45 AM today - smiling and ready to rumble! It was actually chilly today, for the first time since last Spring!!

MAM wrote:
Mr. Clean ~ The first commercials ran in August 1958 at WDTV/KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the year the product was introduced. It has been played as recently as 2011, usually in a contemporary musical setting or instrumental version. It is the longest running advertising jingle used in television history.
Mr. Clean Intro Jingle 1958

And, Joe S answered:
Mr. Clean
I got a new job. I've been hired by Bain Capital to install screen doors in submarines. That Mitt! He's always coming up with new ideas.

In The Chaos Household

Last Night

Still sunny, still hot, still humid.

Tonight, Tuesday:

CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'NCIS: The 2nd One', then the SERIES PREMIERE'Vegas'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Kaley Cuoco and the Whigs.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Tom Selleck and June Diane Raphael.

NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'Go On', then a FRESH'The New Normal', followed by a FRESH'Parenthood'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Ann Romney, Seth MacFarlane, and Bettye LaVette.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Jerry Seinfeld, Anthony Anderson, Zach Cregger, Jesse Bradford, and Two Door Cinema Club.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Chris Hayes, Regina Spektor, and Rob Delaney.

ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Dancing With The Stars', followed by a FRESH'Private Practice'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are the first "Dancing with the Stars" castoff, Melanie Griffith, Kerry Washington, and Alanis Morissette.

The CW offers a RERUN'Hart Of Dixie', followed by a RERUN'The Next: Fame Is At Your Doorstep'.

Faux has a FRESH'New Girl', followed by the SERIES PREMIERE'Ben & Kate', then another FRESH'New Girl', followed by the SERIES PREMIERE'The Mindy Project'.

MY recycles an old 'Cold Case', followed by another old 'Cold Case'.

A&E has 3 hours of old 'Storage Wars', 'Shipping Wars', and another 'Shipping Wars'.

Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of NJ', 'Real Housewives Of NYC', 'Flipping Out', followed by a FRESH'Flipping Out'.

Comedy Central has an old 'Colbert Report', an old 'Jon Stewart', 'Workaholics', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', still another 'Tosh.0', followed by a FRESH'Tosh.0', then the SERIES PREMIERE'Brickleberry'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is King Abdullah II.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Claressa Shields.

FX has '2½ Men', another '2½Men', followed by the movie 'Hancock', followed by a FRESH'Sons Of Anarchy'.

History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', still another 'Pawn Stars', yet another 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'Top Gear', then a FRESH'Counting Cars', followed by another FRESH'Counting Cars'.

IFC -
[6:00AM] The Cup
[8:00AM] American Venus
[9:45AM] Strangers in Good Company
[12:00PM] The Cup
[2:00PM] American Venus
[3:45PM] Strangers in Good Company
[6:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-The Grandparents
[6:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Traffic Ticket
[7:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Surgery
[7:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Reese Cooks
[8:00PM] The Forbidden Kingdom
[10:15PM] The Libertine
[12:45AM] The Forbidden Kingdom
[3:00AM] Galaxina
[5:00AM] The Ben Stiller Show
[5:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Ed Helms Wears a Grey Shirt & Brown Boots (ALL TIMES EDT)

Creation Views Threaten US Science

Bill Nye

The man known to a generation of Americans as "The Science Guy" is condemning efforts by some Christian groups to cast doubts on evolution and lawmakers who want to bring the Bible into science classrooms.

Bill Nye, a mechanical engineer and star of the popular 1990s TV show "Bill Nye The Science Guy," has waded into the evolution debate with an online video that urges parents not to pass their religious-based doubts about evolution on to their children.

Nye has spent a career teaching science to children and teens with good-natured and sometimes silly humor, but has not been known to delve into topics as divisive as evolution.

Christians who view the stories of the Old Testament as historical fact have come to be known as creationists, and many argue that the world was created by God just a few thousand years ago.

"The Earth is not 6,000 or 10,000 years old," Nye said in an interview with The Associated Press, citing scientists' estimates that it is about 4.5 billion years old. "It's not. And if that conflicts with your beliefs, I strongly feel you should question your beliefs."

Retired astronaut and former U.S. Senator John Glenn and his wife Annie listen as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative 2012 (CGI) in New York on September 24, 2012. Mrs. Clinton, who was introduced by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, opened the second day of the CGI with special remarks focused on, "Designing Diplomacy for the 21st Century." The CGI, which runs through September 25, was created by President Clinton in 2005 to gather global leaders to discuss solutions to the world's problems.
Photo by Andrew Burton

Launches 1st Online Radio With DJs

Boston.com

A beloved Boston-area independent alternative radio station is getting new life online several times over in partnership with traditional print media, and experts say it could be a model for other stations that can no longer be found on a radio dial.

The station was known as WFNX until its frequency was sold to media giant Clear Channel earlier this year. The Boston Globe snapped up most of its popular, live local disc jockeys and created RadioBDC, which for the past several weeks has been streaming similar programming from Boston.com, the Globe's current events and entertainment news site.

Launched in 1983, Boston's WFNX was one of the first U.S. stations to exclusively broadcast alternative rock. It was the first to play Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and its album "Nevermind" in its entirety on air, pushing the band onto the national scene.

While RadioBDC has hired WFNX staffers, WFNX.com continues online, playing the same kind of music it always did, though without DJs. The sale of 101.7 granted Clear Channel the frequency license and equipment, but Phoenix Media retains the call sign, trademarks and intellectual property.

50th Birthday

Clifford the Big Red Dog

School kids sang "Happy Birthday" and Scholastic unfurled a huge banner worthy of a big red dog from the roof of its headquarters Monday to fete Clifford, the beloved book and TV character, for his 50 years of nudging kids to read.

His creator, 84-year-old Norman Bridwell, took questions from a few dozen first- and second-graders during a webcast beamed live into more than 5,000 classrooms around the country from the party held outside the downtown building as tourists snapped photos from atop open-air double-decker buses stuck in traffic.

And Bridwell's real-life daughter, the all-grown-up Emily Elizabeth, spoke to reporters of her special place in publishing history as the inspiration for the perky, blond girl who shares her life - and 90 books worth of adventures - with the gawky, big-hearted Clifford.

She was just a year old when her father, a struggling artist from Indiana, and his wife, aptly named Norma, were trying to eke out a living in New York. It wasn't going well when Norma suggested he try his hand at illustrating children's books.

Norma came up with the name Clifford, based on an imaginary friend she had as a girl.

Lukasz Rostkowski alias L.U.C (L) and Dominik Smuzny of Poland perform during the art performance "Collecting & Breeding Human Time" on the Cosmic Underground art train in Riga railway station September 24, 2012. Cosmic Underground is a multidisciplinary train connecting East and West of Europe in the two-month journey from Estonia to Portugal and tells a story of time dimension through audiovisual installations, theatrical performances and live music happenings located in ten cargo train carriages.
Photo by Ints Kalnins

2 Plead No Contest To Extorting

Stevie Wonder

Two people charged with trying to extort millions of dollars from Stevie Wonder pleaded no contest on Monday and were released after being sentenced to time-served in jail.

Alpha Lorenzo Walker and Tamara Diaz were sentenced to serve 292 days in jail and three years of probation for attempting to sell a video that purportedly portrayed Wonder in a negative light. Jail credits made the pair eligible for release Monday.

The pair was arrested in May after the Grammy-winner's attorney arranged a sting and claimed Walker had sought up to $5 million for the video.

Walker's attorney, Ian Wallach, said the deal was reached after prosecutors encountered trouble proving the extortion case and that the charges were eligible to be reduced to misdemeanors and expunged later if the pair comply with the terms of their release.

Colombian dancers Jhon Lucumi and Leidy Pechene participate in an exhibition dance during the 7th World Salsa Festival in Cali September 23, 2012. The city of Cali is known as the world capital of Salsa.
Photo by Jaime Saldarriaga

Writer, Artist Settle Lawsuits

"Walking Dead"

Robert Kirkman, author of "The Walking Dead" comics that inspired the hit AMC zombie series, has reached a settlement over payments for the work of their original artist, Tony Moore.

The two childhood friends said they had resolved to "move on in their lives."

Moore sued Kirkman in February, accusing Moore, a frequent comic collaborator, of tricking him into surrendering his rights to the early issues of "Walking Dead" in 2005 in exchange for payments that never came. Kirkman called the allegations "ridiculous," and in turn sued Moore.

Kirkman had made a joke months before the lawsuit was filed that Moore's lawyer suggested could come back to haunt him if the case went to trial. In an interview for the Nerdist podcast, Kirkman was asked by an aspiring comic writer how to find an illustrator, and recommended, with tongue-in-cheek, "trickery and deceit."

Big Reward Offered

Art Theft

Even by Hollywood standards, the audacious art heist from the home of a wealthy L.A. money man is an intriguing whodunit.

Jeffrey Gundlach, one of the world's top bond gurus, has offered a $1.7-million bounty for the safe return of a cherished collection stolen from his Santa Monica home last week. The $10-million haul included some of the biggest names in contemporary art: Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns and Richard Diebenkorn.

On Monday, Gundlach took the unusual step of holding a news conference in downtown Los Angeles to announce one of the highest rewards on record for the return of stolen art. He set aside $1 million of the reward money for a Mondrian piece, which one art-theft expert said was the most ever offered for a single painting.

The biggest unanswered question: Was the caper the work of sophisticated art thieves or street burglars who couldn't tell a Renoir from a Rockwell? The theft has shaken the Southern California art world, as movie moguls, pop stars, actors and star lawyers wonder whether it could happen to them.

Gundlach gave few details about the crime, which he said he discovered Sept. 14 after returning from a two-day business trip to New York. In addition to the art, the thieves made off with expensive watches, rare bottles of wine and even his red 2010 Porsche Carrera.

A university student majoring in Korean traditional dance wears traditional costume while peforming during the grand Confucian ceremony of Seokjeon at a shrine at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul September 24, 2012. Seokjeon is a biannual ritual to consecrate Chinese philosopher Confucius and his disciples as supreme teachers at civil temples, to honour their virtues and to follow their teachings. Dancing to the playing of music and making offerings of traditional liquor for blessings are part of the ceremony.
Photo by Kim Hong-Ji

Dutch Museum Closes

Van Gogh

The operation began moments after the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam closed Sunday evening. Men removed alarm tags from behind some of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest masterpieces, including "Sunflowers," ''Irises" and the famously crooked "Bedroom," and quickly pulled the paintings down from the museum's walls.

Fortunately, they were not thieves carrying out an epic heist, but curators preparing the works for transport to a temporary location across town where they will be on display for the next seven months while the museum is closed for renovations.

In all, 75 pieces - the cream of the biggest collection of Vincent Van Gogh's work - are moving to The Hermitage, an Amsterdam dependency of the Russian state museum.

The exhibit at The Hermitage opens Saturday and runs through mid-April, with the Van Gogh Museum to reopen on April 25, 2013.

The closure of the Van Gogh Museum was timed in part to coincide with the reopening next door of the lesser-known Stedelijk, or city museum, which houses works by Dutch Modernists Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld, as well as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse and many others.

Washington State

'Zombie Bees'

The infection is as grim as it sounds: "Zombie bees" have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die.

"I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house," said Mark Hohn, a novice beekeeper who spotted the infected insects at his suburban Seattle home.

Hohn returned from vacation a few weeks ago to find many of his bees either dead or flying in jerky patterns and then flopping on the floor.

He remembered hearing about zombie bees, so he collected several of the corpses and popped them into a plastic bag. About a week later, the Kent man had evidence his bees were infected: the pupae of parasitic flies.

San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered zombie bees in California in 2008, and now uses a website to recruit citizen scientists like Hohn to track the infection across the country. Observers also have found zombie bees in Oregon and South Dakota.

Search For Mysterious Mural Called Off

"The Lost Leonardo"

A quest to find what some call "The Lost Leonardo" has been put on hold, keeping alive a mystery of a possible hidden Leonardo mural in Italy.

Researchers, after a petition from artist historians, put on indefinite hold the search for a long-lost mural by Leonardo da Vinci called the "Battle of the Anghiari" that is believed to be tucked behind a frescoed wall in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's 14th-century city hall, Discovery News reports.

According to Maurizio Seracini, director of the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology at the University of California, San Diego, the Leonardo work is tucked behind another mural know as the "Battle of Marciano," painted in the 15th century by Giorgio Vasari. Leonardo's work was commissioned to include horses and men in a battle over a standard, which was to honor a Florentine victory over Milanese troops in 1440, according to Discovery News.

Seracini is the only nonfictional living character in Dan Brown's popular novel "The Da Vinci Code."

Bought for $9.99 Auctioned for $27K

Goodwill Painting

Beth Feeback had a really good weekend. The North Carolina woman who bought a painting for $9.99 from a Goodwill store sale saw it sell for more than $27,000 at a Sotheby's auction.

The sale price listed on the Sotheby's website, $34,375.00, reflects the final gavel price plus a premium the buyer must pay, she explained. The painting had been expected to sell for between $15,000 and $20,000.

This undated photo provided by Sotheby's shows a painting of a dog by Otto Eerelman titled "Sitting Up," that belonged to the late philanthropist Brooke Astor. Sotheby's said the piece will be offered at a Sept. 24-25, New York auction of some 900 personal items from Astor's Park Avenue duplex and her stone manor in Westchester.

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